Team

DECALIA’s asset management team is comprised of very experienced investment professionals, whose areas of expertise complement each other well.

Alfredo Piacentini

Managing Partner, Member of the Board, Member of the Executive Committee, Member of the Strategy and Investment Committees

Alfredo Piacentini worked for 9 years at Lombard Odier in Geneva and London, as a financial analyst then as a fund manager, before co-founding Banque SYZ in 1995. As a partner and General Manager of the Group, he was in charge of private banking, centralized management and investment funds business. He was Chairman of Banca Albertini Syz in Milan until 2016 and remains a board member.
He holds a master’s degree in International Relations from the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva.

Rodolfo De Benedetti

Partner, Member of the Board, Head of Fund Managers and Product Strategy, member of the Executive Committee, member of the Strategy Committee

Rodolfo De Benedetti has worked for Lombard Odier and Shearson Lehman Brothers in the United States. Furthermore, he is Chairman of the Board of Directors and majority co-shareholder of the Italian group CIR, of which he was the CEO for 18 years. He is also Chairman of the Harvard Business School’s European Advisory Board and member of the European Round Table of Industrialists.

He holds a Master’s degree in Political Economy and a master’s degree in Law from the University of Geneva.

Xavier Guillon

Partner, Head of Business Development & DECALIA Funds, member of the Executive Committee

Xavier Guillon worked for 14 years at US private bank Brown Brothers Harriman, in London & New York, heading Institutional Sales. He then joined Banque SYZ in 2007, where he held several functions, including CEO of OYSTER Funds and member of SYZ Group’s Executive Committee.
Xavier Guillon holds an MBA in International Marketing & BBA in International Business from Georges Washington University in Washington DC.

Walid Azar Atallah

Analyst, Portfolio Manager

Walid Azar Atallah joined DECALIA in 2016. Prior to joining, he spent 3 years at CPR within the thematic equities team as a fund manager. Walid Azar Atallah hold a masters degree from INSEEC Business School (Paris) in trading and risk management and a bachelor degree in economics from USJ (Université Saint-Joseph of Beyrouth).

Claudia Eftimie, CFA

Region Head Business Developement German-speaking Switzerland

Claudia Eftimie started her career in 1994 in financial analysis, first at Lombard Odier and then with Julius Baer. In 2004, she joined SYZ Asset Management, where she developed the OYSTER franchise in German-speaking Switzerland and German-speaking countries until 2011. After an entrepreneurial project, she joined Bellevue Asset Management as Head of fund sales for distributors and major institutional clients. Having graduated in economics from the University of St. Gallen, Claudia Eftimie gained the CFA certification in 1998.

Francesco Figliomeni

Analyst, Portfolio Manager

Francesco Figliomeni holds a bachelor in business administration from Bocconi University in Milan. He started his career as a controller and business analyst at Arnoldo Mondadori Editore Spa, the biggest publishing company in Italy. Then he moved to Banca Profilo Spa in the wealth management division, managing funds and managed accounts. Before moving to DECALIA, he worked for a family-owned holding, taking care of the M&A activity and the private equity and technology investments.

Antonio Garufi

Portfolio Manager

Antonio Garufi has more than a decade of experience in finance and investing. He started his career at Citigroup and then joined J.P. Morgan in London where he stayed 3 years. In 2009, he then joined Astor Investment, former name of DECALIA, where he analyzed and executed investment opportunities across a number of sectors and asset classes. He currently manages the healthcare portfolio and is responsible for stock analysis in some investment themes.

Antonio Garufi graduated from Bocconi University in 2005, where he is currently teaching assistant, has a PhD in Business Administration and graduated from the Value Investing Program at Columbia Business School.

Clément Maclou, CIIA

Senior Portfolio Manager

Clément Maclou joined DECALIA in 2016 . He started his career at Martin Maurel Gestion in Paris, and then spent 11 years with CPR Asset Management as a thematic equity portfolio manager (co-managing one of the largest ageing thematic equity fund in the world). Clément Maclou holds a master’s degree in International Business from IAE in Aix en Provence and is SFAF certified.

Nicoló Miscioscia, ACCA

Product Specialist

Nicoló Miscioscia is a chartered accountant (ACCA) and holds a Bsc with honours in Management from Cass Business School in London. He began his career as an auditor in the financial sector, spending 4 years with PricewaterhouseCoopers in Geneva and Luxembourg. He then co-founded U-Start Club in Lugano, a venture capital platform targeting family offices and private investors, as well as an e-commerce platform based in Torino. At DECALIA, he takes part in the development of new products, with a special focus on illiquid strategies.

Hussein Nassereddine

Quant, Portfolio Manager

Hussein Nassereddine joined Decalia in January 2015. Since then he is in charge of all quantitative equity screenings as well as option strategies, structured products and quantitative risk management. Before joining Decalia, Hussein worked at UBP in Geneva as a member of the multi-asset and institutional clients’ team. Hussein holds a Master degree in Financial Engineering from Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, EPFL. And a Bachelor of Engineering from the American University of Beirut, AUB.

Rafaella Ostier

Business Development

Rafaella Ostier holds a Master degree in Asset Management from Dauphine University in Paris. Prior to joining DECALIA, she worked 7 years for Nordea Asset Management in Paris and Luxembourg, taking care of the business development of independent financial advisors and family offices.

Sandro Occhilupo, CFA, CMT

Head of Discretionary Portfolio Management, Senior Fund Manager

Sandro Occhilupo holds a master’s degree in Economics from the University of Geneva and holds the CFA (2001) and CMT (2011) qualifications. He worked for UBS (Geneva and New York) for 5 years as a portfolio manager, and then spent 10 years with Banque SYZ as a manager of private and institutional portfolios. He is a co-advisor to the OYSTER Italian Opportunities fund, with Alfredo Piacentini.

Michele Pedroni

Portfolio Manager

Michele Pedroni joined DECALIA in 2017, as lead portfolio manager for DECALIA European Conviction. Prior to joining, Michele spent 6 years with SYZ banking group/OYSTER Funds, where he served as global equity analyst before becoming portfolio manager in the global equities team. He obtained a Bachelors Degree in Economics at the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan in 2009 and a Master’s Degree in Finance at the Bocconi University in Milan the following year.

Béatrice Rolland

Head of Fund Administration & Compliance

After her Master’s from the faculty of Economics at the University of Geneva, Béatrice Rolland started her career as Information Technologies and Financial auditor at PwC Geneva. She rapidly joined the fund industry, first at Capital International during 4 years and then at Banque SYZ during 15 years, where she was COO for the OYSTER Fund activity and Compliance Officer for SYZ Asset Management (Luxembourg) SA.

Rodolphe de Villaine, CFA

Senior Portfolio Manager

Rodolphe de Villaine graduated from the Université Paris Dauphine with a degree in finance and holds a CFA qualification. Prior to joining DECALIA, he worked for 11 years with Fédéris Gestion d’Actifs (Group La Banque Postale) where he managed the Fédéris Croissance Euro, Avenir Euro and Fédéris Ex Euro strategies.

Damien Weyermann, CFA

Analyst, Senior Portfolio Manager

Damien Weyermann holds a bachelor degree in Business Administration & Economics from the University of Geneva and holds the CFA (2004). He has over 15 years experience as an equity analyst and investment manager. He worked for 9 years at Lombard Odier and Bank Vontobel as a research analyst in Equity Brokerage, then moved to the Buy Side in 2010, joining Lloyds International Private Bank followed by Coutts & Co as an equity analyst and portfolio manager for UHNW clients.